1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing program, and an image processing method that process an in-vivo image that is obtained by taking an image of inside of body cavity.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, swallow-type capsule endoscopes have been proposed in the field of endoscopy. The capsule endoscope has various functions, such as imaging, wireless communication, and illuminating sites to be imaged. The capsule endoscope is swallowed by a patient through the mouth and then introduced inside the body. Then, while moving inside the body cavity along, for example, the gullet, the stomach, and the small intestine by peristaltic action, the capsule endoscope sequentially takes in-vivo images and wirelessly sends the taken in-vivo images to a receiving device, which is arranged outside the body, until the capsule endoscope is naturally excreted outside the body.
The capsule endoscope takes a large number of in-vivo images during the period from when it is swallowed by the patient through the mouth to when it is naturally excreted. Therefore, image processing apparatuses that detect a lesion from the taken in-vivo images by image processing are used. A typical image processing apparatus that detects a lesion using the in-vivo images splits an image of inside of the alimentary truck into blocks, calculates color data for each block, and compares the color data of a region well-known for lesions, such as a bleeding region, with a reference value representing color data of healthy tissues (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-521693).